Vital Signs: Albuquerque abortion ban scheduled for November ballot

Albuquerque’s City Council voted 5-4 Monday night to conduct a special election for the Pain Capable Unborn Child Ordinance as part of a potential Nov. 19 runoff for mayor and council races.

If a runoff election isn’t needed, the abortion measure would be considered through a mail-in vote. If passed, the ordinance will be the first city-wide ban on abortions after 20 weeks. The ordinance maintains an exception if the life of the mother is in danger.

The election comes after pro-life groups collected nearly 27,000 signatures this summer supporting the ordinance. They needed to gather just 12,091 signatures in 30 days but came up with more than double that number in just 20 days.

Originally, pro-life groups hoped the petition would make it on Albuquerque’s Oct. 8 ballot, but the city clerk didn’t verify the required number of signatures in time. If the ordinance passes, not only will Albuquerque be the first city to approve such a ban, it will end the city’s reputation as the nation’s late-term abortion capitol. New Mexico currently has no restrictions on when abortions can be performed.

Abortionist fined for assaulting patient. The Florida Board of Medicine settled a three-year case against abortionist Randall Whitney last month, fining him a total of $15,541, including court costs, for slapping a woman at his facility. The board didn’t revoke Whitney’s license, but it did change its status from Clear/Active to Obligations/Active—meaning the board has disciplined him and restrictions may be applied. Along with the fine, the board required Whitney to complete three hours of medical education and undergo an evaluation by the Professionals Resource Network.

Authorities arrested Whitney for aggravated assault in March 2010, when a woman identified only as Amanda reported that he slapped her in the face. Whitney was rearrested in September of that year for skipping his trial. In 2011, he pleaded no contest to the aggravated battery charge and was sentenced to one day in jail, according to LifeNews. The Florida Department of Health filed a disciplinary petition in August 2012.

Mark Crutcher, president of Life Dynamic, Inc., called the lack of media coverage for the story disgraceful: “If you want to see how outrageous media bias is, just ask yourself how much coverage this story would have gotten if, instead of being assaulted by her abortionist, this woman had been slapped by a pro-life sidewalk counselor as she was walking into the abortion clinic.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.